Cryoprecipitate as a reliable source of fibrinogen replacement

The recent withdrawal of commercial fibrinogen from the market makes alternate sources most important. Although it has been previously reported that single-donor cryoprecipitate contains appreciable amounts of fibrinogen, most clinicians need to be reminded of the reliability of cryoprecipitate for replacement of both fibrinogen and factor VIII. We assayed fibrinogen from 88 bags of cryoprecipitate prepared by five different blood banks in California and Oregon; we found that the average bag of cryoprecipitate contains at least 250 mg of fibrinogen depending on the volume of plasma processed. Cryoprecipitate was found to be a poor source of factors II, V, IX, X, XI, and XII.